More employers “upskilling” their employees

Imagine going from working in maintenance at a hospital moving furniture to a highly paid nursing position. Or from working in a warehouse to working in the corporate office. More employers are ‘upskilling’ their employees by paying for their education so they can further their careers right on the job.

Millions of jobs go unfilled every month because employers can’t find people with the right skills. That’s led some employers to partner with philanthropies, governments, and community colleges to educate existing employees so they can fill those openings. That kind of promoting within is now being called ‘upskilling.’

Specific big employers who are upskilling their employees

Some of the prominent companies who are doing this include Walmart, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Gap Inc., CVS Health, Kaiser Permanente and UPS, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, Amazon has a program called Career Choice for some of their employees. If you are working in a warehouse, they will reimburse up to 95% of your tuition for a variety of matriculating fields.

I got my master’s degree paid for by IBM, where I was working as a bill collector by day while going to school at night. They offered a tuition reimbursement plan for any class you got a B or above in. I just paid for books. Out of the 550 IBM employees at my location, I was one of only two who took advantage of the free educational benefit!

Read more: Top 25 happiest companies to work for

Get started at this clearinghouse website

So if you’re stuck in low wage work, there could be an opportunity for you to get some free training and move to a highly paid career, particularly in the manufacturing fields. The key is to find an employer willing to upskill you. A good starting point is NFWSolutions.org — the National Fund for Workforce Solutions website — and their list of regional colloboratives in 24 states.

Read more: Top 20 jobs with the biggest salary increases this year

For more career advice, see our Jobs section.